Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou expressed support Thursday for a revision to the Functionary Performance Appraisal Act, but urged the Examination Yuan, which is presiding over the revision, to organize hearings to seek the opinions of the functionaries who will be affected by it.

Ma was briefed earlier in the day by Examination Yuan President John Kuan and "Minister of Civil Service" Chang Che-shen about the principles they followed in revising the act.

Lo Chih-chiang, a spokesman for Ma's office, said the "president" supported the revision after the briefing and noted that the current appraisal system has received widespread criticism as being flawed.

The system compromises the government's efficiency and drags down its competitiveness, Ma was quoted as saying.

He urged the Examination Yuan to conduct the revamping legally, fairly and sensitively.

Ma suggested that the Examination Yuan should explain to the civil servants the reasons behind the revision, seek their support and respond to any criticism of the revision.

The Examination Yuan has already decided to organize 20 briefings around Taiwan to seek functionaries' opinions on the revision.

The revision, drafted by the "Ministry of Civil Service", caused an outcry among civil servants when it was presented to the plenary meeting of the Examination Yuan for approval March 11.

The most controversial parts of the revision are the imposition of a 5 percent cap on the number of functionaries to be ranked "excellent" in performance, and a 65 percent cap on those ranked "A", which is the second-highest of four available grades.

However, functionaries who get the lowest "C" grade should account for at least 3 percent of the total, and those with three "C's" in as many years will be sacked or forced to retire, according to the revisions.

Angered by the tightening of the rules, many functionaries who used to support the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) have threatened to vote the party out of office. Their irritation came to the attention of Ma Ying-jeou - who also serves as chairman of the KMT, who asked for Thursday's briefing.

After being approved by the Examination Yuan, the revision will still have to be enacted by the Legislative Yuan before it can take effect.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 03/19/2010 page8)